KS3 IMPACT! G&T Identifying G&T students A whole-school approach Strategies that work

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

KS3 IMPACT!

G&T

•Identifying G&T students

•A whole-school approach

•Strategies that work



KS3 IMPACT!Identifying / Diagnosing

Gifted & Talented students

Entitlement v Elitism

T:

•Art

•Music

•Sport

G:

•Other subjects

?

DfES

5-10% of students

Grow your own definition

teachers students

Which of these should we use to define students who are gifted and

talented?

NC tests (eg KS2, KS3)

Diagnostic tests (Midyis, CATs)

Classroom observation

Teacher recommendation

Checklists of general ingredients

Peer / parental recommendation

So how can we spot our gifted and talented

students?What are the key signals?

Conformist

•Diligent•Adult-friendly •Smart presentation•Socially adept•Leadership qualities•Mustn’t grumble•Enjoys problem-solving•Sense of humour

Non-Conformist

•Non-completer•Avoids extension tedium•Uncommunicative, surly, challenging, unnerving•Scruffy presentation•detached, even disruptive•Loner or rebel•Scornful •Dark humour



KS3 IMPACT!

1. How do you know what you are especially good at?2. Is everyone able to show their best and be proud of it?3. Do some people pretend they are not clever at

something?4. What sort of things make you think hardest?Of all the

ways the teacher gets you to learn about things which do you enjoy the most?

5. Of all the ways the teacher gets you to learn about things, which do you enjoy least?

6. Do you find it easy to get on with the tasks you’ve been set?

7. Do you have targets which really challenge you?

Ask the students

Of all the ways the teacher gets you to learn about things which do you enjoy the most?

•Activities – not writing, nothing intimidating. More discussion, needs to be variety (maths now = all from books)•Biology = copy from board – don’t even read it•VAKi in French to analyse own learning•If teachers drone on = some of us don’t have the attention span•Unfairness about time given to complete coursework ie some = meet deadlines. Others = 3 months late so have extra 3 months to work on it•Too many tests in short space of time•Would help if different subject teachers could talk to each other so we do not get all coursework assignments at the same time.

Of all the ways the teacher gets you to learn about things, which do you enjoy least?

•Vague questions that you don’t know what it means•I think we should be setted for English because it could be more challenging too long on one piece of work would be helpful, disruptive people were in difficult group•Humanities – go round and round in circles because don’t have specialist teachers. Spend time trying to manage behaviour

So what should we be aiming to provide for G&T students? And what NOT

provide?

NOT•More of the same

•Extra handouts

•FOFO projects

BUT

•Experimentation

•Metacognition

•Modelled learning

•Open questions

•Detours and tangents

•Humour

•Wonder

•Creativity

•Resilience

•‘Flow’ thinking

So what could you do next?

Do things Create the climate for things to happen

History

A gifted or talented student may: Work with a high degree of independenceUse a variety of sources to obtain informationQuestion the validity of sources/ideasUtilise specialised vocabularyhigh level of empathyperceptive level of questioningtransfer previous knowledgelink topics with other subjectsbe able to group philosophical concepts

In delivery the teacher may: allow students to select their own sources of informationpromote paired workrole-playallow them to produce materials for other students’ use (e.g. a wordsearch, audio tape, video etc.)interview ‘experts’ (eg other members of the department) in order to gain informationpromote different methods of recording informationpromote higher order skills by asking open questions, e.g. Henry VIII – a good or bad influence on the religion of the country? Limit the time they have available for a task

Hammer out your school’s definition of G&T, giving a broad view of ability, downplaying innateness, emphasising inclusiveness, emotional literacy, resilience. Involve staff in this process

1

The G&T coordinator should coordinate, not DO everything. S/he should also be a key evaluater

2

Keep it simple: 3 (or less) things that some people will try to do in their lessons. Build a critical mass. Roll the project out sequentially using allies

3

Do whole-school stuff (masterclasses, conferences, thinking skills workshops, trips).

But expect in-lesson impact too, and know how you will evaluate it

4

Involve students and parents and experts. Give control. Do less!

5



KS3 IMPACT!

G&T

•Identifying G&T students

•A whole-school approach

•Strategies that work



KS3 IMPACT!

1. How do you know what you are especially good at?2. Is everyone able to show their best and be proud of it?3. Do some people pretend they are not clever at

something?4. What sort of things make you think hardest?Of all the

ways the teacher gets you to learn about things which do you enjoy the most?

5. Of all the ways the teacher gets you to learn about things, which do you enjoy least?

6. Do you find it easy to get on with the tasks you’ve been set?

7. Do you have targets which really challenge you?

Ask the students



KS3 IMPACT!Learns quicklyEnjoys problem solvingInquisitiveGood vocabularyCreative/inventiveIntense concentrationIndependentSense of humour



KS3 IMPACT!A liking for independent learning

Open–ended tasks

Scaffolding of more complex tasks

Exploration

Opportunities to develop leadership skills

Stretching source material

Collaboration with peers

Advanced thinking e.g. Bloom’s top three

Catering for different learning style

metacognitive strategies

opportunities for self and peer evaluation



KS3 IMPACT!Some starting points

Discuss definition/identification – to raise staff awareness/ give colleagues the opportunity to explore ideas/address preconceptionsInvolve colleagues in the development of your school policy

Look at pupil groupings and opportunities for flexibility

Begin to review schemes of work in the light of, for example, Bloom, to focus on building in more challenge – target processes rather than contentAudit reading/source materials for challenge – eg using the Basic Skills Agency’s SMOG test [ get your able readers to do this]Find examples of good practice – share them with colleagues and extrapolate principles

Exploit outside experts and opportunities

Set up a working group in school

Involve parents



KS3 IMPACT!Within the Key Stage 3 Strategy

Collect evidence of prior attainment

Look for opportunities for clustering of objectives

Set challenging learning objectives

Negotiate learning objectives

Share assessment criteria

Offer challenging models of subject expertise

Create opportunities for peer and self-evaluation



KS3 IMPACT!Activities to develop self-assessment:

Peer marking against student-created agreed criteria

Peer evaluation against given criteria

‘Expert journalist’/’subject expert’ paired interviews for plenary

Students generate keywords to encompass learning points

In groups, students develop questions for class revision of key learning points

Students rank learning points in order of importance and justify

Students generate list of other applications

Learning journals

Lesson/topic concept maps, mindmaps, flowcharts, display posters



KS3 IMPACT!



KS3 IMPACT!

Documents

KS3 IMPACT! G&T Identifying G&T students A whole-school approach Strategies that work